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Author: Jaime

As I went over in my last blog article, a simple addition you can make to your spree store is adding the SpreeFancy gem, adding an attractive theme to the base store. SpreeFancy is easy to install. Just add this to your Gemfile:

And run bundle after that. Note: I am running a Spree 2.1 store, so I am using the 2-1-stable branch. If you are using another version of Spree, be sure to have the Gemfile pointing to the correct branch of SpreeFancy.

Spree is a great Ruby on Rails e-commerce platform, allowing developers and clients to quickly set up an online store-front. A completely functional store can be built in a relatively short amount of time. Additional customization can commence from there.

Spree comes with a front end theme already installed. This allows a developer to quickly provide a working store with a usable front end. A default Spree store looks like this:

When I started at Synaptian a couple months ago, I had quite honestly never even heard of Ruby or Rails. I had no idea what I was diving into, and as a budding programmer who has always had a distaste for web design, I had no idea why I was accepting an internship that involved using a programming language that was completely foreign to me, and doing something I had already found I didn't particularly like. I was mostly interested in expanding my portfolio.

What happened still astounds me. I attended a Ruby on Rails bootcamp, run by Nate and Chris, and was given a head start into this new and unfamiliar language. I learned just how helpful and “magical” (a preferred term by enthusiasts!) Rails can be. Typing out or copying the same HTML code over and over was a thing of the past. The concept of DRY is a new favorite of mine. It stands for Don't Repeat Yourself. Because who wants to do that?